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He professed his love for her and, as he was no simpleton,
Took advantage of Japan's strange marriage laws......... -
False Telramund this spotless maid has named,
Demanding of the King that she be banished.342 lines, 23 comments, on Jun 22 5:14 AM 2005. In Opera
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The knights, deprived, have lost their strength and now grow listless rather;
yet on this day, Good Friday, the king should honour his d156 lines, 5 comments, on Jun 24 2:03 PM 2005. In Opera
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The sunlight strikes Valhalla’s walls dispersing all the gloom;
Loge watches them ironically as they hasten to their doom.81 lines, 9 comments, on Jun 27 1:54 PM 2005. In Other
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Wotan has sired on Erda, the Earth-mother, daughters nine
as Valkyries. Fair Brunnhilde is his favourite of the line.108 lines, 8 comments, on Jun 29 2:21 PM 2005. In Other
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The years have passed, Sieglinde died in childbirth and her son,
young Siegfried, reared by Mime, is now strong and fully grown. -
Valhalla and the heavens are consumed in flames above.
The order of the gods has passed, the World redeemed by love. -
In the Pharaoh’s Memphis palace the High Priest of Isis stands.
He foretells that Ethiopians will invade Egyptian lands. -
In his study, ageing Faust is contemplating suicide.
Lamenting his lost years, he hears a group of youths outside. -
The houselights dim, the curtain rises, vesper bells are ringing.
‘Tis evening at the Convent, nuns file in sedately singing. -
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We find ourselves in India in the days of British Raj.
It is dawn - a shady garden with a river nearby, flowing past a temple. -
We are in Ceylon, in ancient times, in a seaside town of old
where superstitious fisher-folk live by a rocky shore. -
The setting is the hamlet of Hochstoff, high in the alps of the upper Austrian Tyrol
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“For all his beauty, human passion and inconstant love,
may God forgive and take his precious soul to Heaven above.” -
Alone, Don Jose picks the flower and holds it to his nose,
reflecting that, if there are witches, she is one of those. -
In Lillas Pastia’s tavern, Carmen, with two gypsy friends,
Mercedes and Frasquita, enters just as supper ends. -
He leaves with her but warns Carmen that he will soon return
Carmen turns away, her gesture showing total unconcern. -
He throws himself across her body as the crowd comes forward….
“Sirs! It is I who killed her. My Carmen who I adored!” -
The crowd laments, the Ministers predict his life’s now brief,
while Timur and the slave Liu are overcome with grief. -
“I, Altoum, pray to all the gods that Heaven’s Will be done
and that, by dawn tomorrow morning, he will be my son!” -
“No one must sleep tonight in Pekin City under pain
of death and, before morning, must reveal the Stranger’s name.” -
The Herald then announces that the King of Clubs is sad
for the Prince, his son’s, a hypochondriac - and that is bad. -
Ninetta and the Prince get married, happy ever after
and the palace constantly resounds to the Prince’s cheerful laughter! -
Together all five point a doubtful moral, making clearer
the wiles of wanton women, in a closing habanera. -
Paco gives a sob of horror, Carmela his presence shuns.
She never will forgive him for the damage he has done. -
It’s Easter Sunday morning; people gather in the square.
Santuzza, his abandoned love, awaits Turiddu there. -
Canio strikes him down with mortal blow intended,
then drops his dagger and exclaims: “The comedy is ended!” -
This fine one-act Opera is set in the Chinese quarter of
San Fancisco in the year 1900. -
In the grounds of Dido’s Carthaginian palace can be seen
a crowd of loyal subjects paying homage to their Queen. -
The haunting prelude with its themes, so yearning and obsessive,
epitomizes first the course of love that’s so possessive, -
I hope you’ve find this story fun, no priggish soul offending.
As Opera, it’s but one of few that have a happy ending! -
In a barely furnished Paris garret in the Latin part
a poet and a painter are both practicing their art; -
Iago, smarting secretly, on dire revenge is bent;
to bring about Otello’s ruin is his avowed intent. -
The setting is an evidently seldom-peopled room
enshrouded in a permeating atmosphere of gloom. -
“The dead send dreams like that to haunt if we don’t let them find
that peace which they deserve but try to hold them in our mind.” -
“Until our hour of death, we praise you Lord in all Your Might,
for blessings you bestow – especially the Gift of Sight!” -
It is springtime in a small Black Forest village where a pair,
Roberto and his Anna, celebrate their love affair, -
His ship's condemned to roam the storm-swept oceans evermore.
Once every seventh year the sea will cast his ship ashore.264 lines, 5 comments, on Mar 9 6:20 PM 2008
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Nearby, deep down in Venusberg, the goddess keeps her court
to which she lures unwary knights who journey to the fort. -
Peruse my List: "Stories from Opera":
Note: "Rienzi* is still in preparation as I write this. -
Rienzi was a Tribune once in 14th century Rome.
Orsino, a patrician, rudely burst into his home -
"All Frenchmen! Learn and heed the lessons of the recent war!
Go home, make babies, you who hardly ever did before!" -
In the bedroom of the Princess Werdenberg, Octavian kneels
declaring, in his youthful way, the love for her he feels. -
Young Dmitri, heir and brother of Tsar Feodor, is slain
at Boris’ instigation, whose ambition is to reign. -
With Ovlur at his side Prince Igor safely has returned,
his mind set on revenge and with desire for vengeance burned. -
Alone, he tells himself: “How well I stir her jealous passion!
And now, a two-fold purpose in my heart I entertain: -
In Scarpia’s apartments in the Palazzo Farnese,
the Baron is at supper, pausing briefly to reflect -
I dedicate the Three Acts of this Opera Story to my adopted daughter, Mari Goes with love on this,
her birthday, July 15th. 2008.
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The scene is set in Paris on a barge upon the Seine.
It is twilight as Michele, the owner, lights his pipe again -
Her brother Lescaut has been charged to bring her safely here
to a convent where she’ll spend her life in piety and prayer. -
This tells the ancient legend of King Waldemar, the Great
the unhappy Danish ruler who was overcome by Fate. -
The Tsar has sent Opritchniks out with orders to select
the twelve most lovely maidens from all those that they inspect -
A moonlit night by Ilmen’s shores. Disconsolately singing,
there Sadko sits while waters ripple and the rushes sigh -
It’s now the city elders’ turn as poorest of the poor
to suffer mockery, while Sadko is the local hero. -
The Prophet publicly denounced King Herod’s sinful life.
He had his brother murdered, took his throne and then his wife. -
She recites to him the insults that her mother heaps upon her,
inciting her young brother to avenge their father’s honour. -
In the public square of Gaza city, in ancient Palestine,
Jews ask their God to free them from the yoke of Philistine
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I look forward to reading these. For years I was a fundraiser for Opera.
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